Hold Me Down
by Just Another Tree Hugger
Summary: Riots are breaking out all over the city. A new villain named Iron Fist has arrived on the scene to make things just a bit more dificult. Meanwhile, Static and Velocity are powerless. Is there anything right with this picture? Sequel to Velocity.
1. Point of Extinction

**Hi guys, I'm baaaack :D**

**I'm sorry this took so long, there's been a major glitch in my laptop, it like crashed or something (I'm not tech savvy).So now I gots a brand new one :)**

**Well, I want to thank all you guys that read and reviewed Velocity. This happens to be the sequel. **

**So, for those of you who didn't read Velocity, Ellie's a homemade character. She lives with her father, Malcolm and her brother, Peter, across the street from Richie. She's a bright and spunky 16 year old girl, who has the power to run at super fast speed. She is the costumed heroine known as Velocity. When we left off, Velocity and Static had teamed up to save the school from the Metabreed and things were going quite swell. Virgil and Ellie had developed a bond of friendship, even though they bicker frequently. Richie and Ellie had developed a bit more than friendship and are now dating. **

**So what next you ask? Well naturally nothing goes right. So lot's of conflict, llama references and shenanigans are in store.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Static Shock, yadda, yadda.**

**"Can we count on our conversations, to restore us like energon cubes? Made one wish for a permanent kiss that would echo through these bones like arsenic. I can figure out the point of anything just not as quick as I can mess up my life. With all my dreams hooked to hospital machines, I think, 'let's try redefining beautiful.'"- Point of Extinction by Motion City Soundtrack.**

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* * *

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"Well, this is relaxing. Here I am, underneath the stars, nothing but the sound of crickets and the howls of coyotes yearning for the flesh of the youth." Eleanor Covelli said with enough sarcasm in her voice to make Simon Cowell look like a kitten. Richie Foley and Virgil Hawkins sighed as they listened to Ellie start again. The little blond had been reciting every potential danger of their camping trip (ranging from: poison oak to lyme disease) since they arrived in Blackwood forest three days ago. They had this coming though. It had been their own fault for insisting she come along.

It was as simple as this. The Hawkins family had been going on their annual "End of School Camping Trip" for as long as Virgil could remember. Virgil and Sharon were always allowed to bring a friend along. So ever since second grade Richie had tagged along as Virgil's comrade. This year was no different. Virgil and Richie excitedly began plotting various pranks, activities, and general tomfoolery for the upcoming trip.

Now what happened was: Adam caught strep throat. Sharon had no one else to invite, due to the fact all of her friends were on vacation. So she suggested that they bring along Ellie. Of course, Virgil and Richie quickly agreed to this plan and invited her. Now, the extent of Ellie's camping experience was spending the night in a tent outside in her friend's backyard once. She made this quite clear in the beginning, but Virgil and Richie assured her that it wouldn't be a problem. So they packed up the car and headed out for their three day trip.

The first day, everyone went out hiking after setting up the intricate tents, and they ended up getting lost for three hours. When they returned, Ellie and Richie were sunburned, Virgil and Sharon were covered in poison ivy and Robert was entirely scot-free.

The second day, while they were out fishing, their site was visited by wild animals that made off with the granola bars, potato chips and trail mix. The teenagers were mortified that their snackage was gone but luckily, Robert had stored the package of hot dogs in the cooler with all the bottles of water, so they had some food left.

Now on the final day, nature decided it would be a good idea to unleash a hurricane on this pitiful little camping trip. The wind was so violent, no one could leave their tents. It was also roaring so loud, that they had to communicate via walkie talkie. If things weren't bad enough, at some point in the afternoon, a particularly savage wind lifted Virgil and Richie's tent right off the ground and they both went on a magic tent ride and landed nearly 50 feet away. Luckily, Ellie had managed to run to their rescue when she heard their shrieks of terror over the walkie talkie. She managed to rip open the tent and pull them out right before the wind picked up and blew the tent away again. Robert and Sharon marveled at Ellie's quick reflexes as they all caught their breaths.

Anyway, the storm had settled and the three teenagers were now crammed in Ellie's Disney Princess tent where they had basically reached the point of extinction. They were cold, tired, exhausted and longing for air conditioning. At this point, even Ellie had the disposition of a sour gummy worm.

"Virgil, could there be anymore static electricity in this tent?" Ellie hissed uncomfortably as the blanket shocked her for the thousandth time that night.

"Gee, I don't know, let's zap you with a few thousand volts and find out." Virgil snapped.

"You're a shock away from being booted out of my tent, Hawkins." The speedster growled.

"Would you two stop fighting? Let's just go to bed, dream we're somewhere better than this and then in the morning we'll pack up and make that dream a reality." Richie reasoned.

"Easy for you two. You'll sleep through the night. I'll sleep two hours and my body will wake me up." Ellie pouted, "Stupid adrenaline imbalance." She muttered under her breath.

"You think you've got it bad? I'm the one who had to watch you grope Richie all day long and my iPod's dead so I couldn't even block out the moans of ecstasy." Virgil said.

"It's called tickling!"

"Yeah, give it a different name, that'll lessen my mental scars."

"You're just mad because you're on the Snow White side of the tent!" Ellie said, "She's a trollop! No one like's her!"

"I don't know if I should be more disturbed that I'm sleeping in a princess tent or that you just used the word "trollop" in a sentence."

"I think you should be disturbed that your face looks like-!" Ellie was cut off as a pale hand clapped over her mouth. Richie pressed his forehead against hers.

"Ellie, love of my life, I am nanoseconds away from turning into a cannibalistic serial killer and making this camping even more painful and disastrous than it already is. So if you and Virgil could cease your bickering and let me get some sleep so this desire to slaughter can pass, it would be greatly appreciated." Richie said in a calm tone and then removed his hand from her mouth.

Ellie smiled and couldn't resist the sexual innuendo, "What part of me would you eat first?"

"Okay!" Virgil said, "This is clearly like the trampoline incident, I'm going to need 6 years of hypnotherapy before I can repress this."

"Must you always bring up the trampoline incident?" Richie rolled his eyes.

"…what's the trampoline incident?" Ellie asked curiously.

"Sorry, we swore an oath never to speak of it again." Virgil said, "Next topic: Let's figure out away to murder Ellie and make it look like a tragic camping accident."

"Excuse me Sparky, there was enough static electricity in this cheap Wal-Mart tent without you in it. And now that you are, it has reached intolerable levels. If anyone's getting murdered it's you." Ellie hissed.

"That's it. I'm going to sleep in a bear cave where it's safe and calm." Richie announced and began to unzip his sleeping bag.

"No! You can't leave me alone with the human carpet! He might shock me again!"

"I'm sure you'll live."

"No I won't, look at him." Ellie turned around to stare at Virgil. He had taken out some sharpies and was drawing a rather detailed picture of himself drowning Ellie. "He has _dreads _Richie, that's the hairstyle of deceit, you know. And for some strange reason beyond my comprehension, he finds me annoying." She said.

"The mind boggles." Virgil said without looking up from his drawing.

"He's a meanie pants." Ellie concluded, "And since you are my designated lover, you are forced to stay here and protect me from every potential danger that might occur." Richie's mouth opened and he let out an aghast scoff.

"_Every_ potential danger? Geez, could you make my job any harder, Velocity?" Richie asked with his arms crossed. Ellie looked thoughtful for a moment and tried a way to make her ludicrous theory sound more reasonable.

"Okay, you're right there." She agreed, "But hey, would it kill you to dress up in yellow tights and wave some pom poms around and cheer me on for once? It would certainly make my fights more enjoyable."

"Mine too." Virgil grinned.

"You are not putting up a convincing argument to keep me from going to the bear cave." Richie scowled.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. This horrid trip has me cranky, let's just cuddle quietly." Ellie surrendered and thrust herself against Richie's chest, "And Virgil you can use my iPod to block out our moans of ecstasy if you want."

"Oh dear god…"

* * *

It was still raining the morning of their departure. The clouds were thunderous and pouring down gallons of rain water, but the winds were less fierce. Although packing up their camping items was still a gruesome and treacherous task. After three hours of laborious work on empty stomachs, the exhausted campers piled into the car. Robert and Sharon got into the front seat and Virgil, Ellie and Richie all smushed in the backseat. The three teens were exhausted, but that's what happens when you choose arguing about nonsense in favor of sleep. They peeled out of there as fast as Camry could. Their first priority was food. And even though Robert was opposed to fast food, they stopped at the first McDonalds they saw. They opted to take the drive thru and spare the world their grungy and dirty appearance. Once that was out of the way, they drove and drove with fantasies of hot showers and cozy beds. Tension and excitement were building up as they passed the last few trees and exited the rural town of Blackwood and entered the metropolitan area they called Dakota. They could have jumped for joy. But oh what a let down it was…

All kinds of sirens were blaring. There were destroyed cars that had caught fire on the side of the road. Shattered windows decorated the pavement in front of various buildings. Thugs running around in ski masks were more abundant than the cops. The Hawkins family exchanged solemn glances, the chaos and mayhem was grimly similar to the Dakota Gang Riots that had taken place several years earlier.

"What the hell is going on?" Ellie voiced what everyone was thinking. Robert Hawkins turned on the radio to the news station as he cautiously drove forward.

"…_bringing in previous scientists to try and correct the problem. But it would appear that a news reporter has unearthed that Alva Industries has dangerous amounts of the "Bang Baby Gas". The city has been in a complete uproar about safety conditions for the past 2 days, causing a riot at Alva Industries…" _

"Alva Industries… oh my god, my dad!" Ellie gasped in a panicked state, "I have to get to a phone!" Without thinking Ellie opened the door of the slow moving car and quickly ran out.

"Ellie, no! It's not safe!" Robert called after her. It was too late though, she was already sprinting down the block. "We have to go get her, Malcolm left her in my responsibility."

"Pops, it's no use. Ellie's fast, we'd never catch her." Virgil reasoned.

"It'll be okay. She can handle herself." Richie said, but there was anxiety laced in his voice as he watched the gust of wind kick up the moment Ellie disappeared into an alley.

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**Good first chapter? I thought it was a bit short but I wanted to leave it off all dramatic and whatnot. Don't be shy, reviews make my day :)**


	2. Disappear

**A/N: I'm sorry this update took so long. I graduated high school and all my frandzz are leaving me for out of state colleges, so I've been spending as much time out of the house as possible. But a special thanks to AkiraKnyt1632, for threatening/bribing me, it gave me incentive :)**

**So without further audeiu, on to chapter two! (yeah, it rhymed)**

**"I can disappear, anytime I want to, time I feel you. Shovel through my skin, I am with you till the end. And I can decompose, when it suits me I accelerate it. Wicked on all fours, I surrender to the storm." –Disappear by Motion City Soundtrack**

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Things were gravely quiet at the Hawkin's residence. Robert and Sharon had taken refuge in the kitchen and were spending their time on the phone with loved ones to make sure they were okay. A loud crash outside made both of them jump. Sharon solemnly pulled the curtain closed.

Virgil and Richie were stowed away in Virgil's room. The dark skinned teen was staring out the window trying to fight back the wave of melancholy nostalgia that dominated all of his feelings. The last time a riot like this had happened, his brave mother, who had helped save so many people in that chaos, was taken from him. It was the most unjust to ever happen to him and he often made that connection to the reason why he had become Static. To save somebody else from that pain. He turned his head to look at Richie, who was nervously pacing the floor.

"Should I call her again?" Richie asked while wringing his hands. The question was more to himself. He always broke off into random segments where he'd talk to himself when he was anxious.

"She's busy, just give her some time, she'll find her father faster if she's not being interrupted." Virgil said. He had no idea how much that would sting to say. Ellie had jumped out of a car to go look for her father. What had he been doing the day his mother was shot? He always felt if he had been a little older and braver he would have been able to save her.

Richie looked over to see his good friend catching up with all his memories. "Oh V, I'm sorry. I've been so worried about Ellie that I didn't even think to ask if you were okay with all of this…"

Virgil waved off the apology, "Nah bro, it's fine. I'm worried about her too. And I mean let's face it, we both know I'm not okay." He said. Richie put a hand on his friends shoulder.

"Hey man, if it makes you feel any better, you're one of the strongest people I know." Richie said.

"Thanks." Virgil said without looking up from the floor.

"I second that notion, V-Man." Ellie said from the window making both boys jump out of their skins. She was wearing her Velocity costume but her mask was in her hands. She stepped down and they didn't even bother asking how she managed to climb up to Virgil's window.

"Did you find him?" Virgil asked.

"Yes, he's fine. Major panic attack for nothing. His shift had ended before the riots started. Anyways Pete and him have all the doors locked, so they're safe." Ellie said as she collapsed on the bed, "You're lucky your family is out of town for the week, sugar bear."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Richie said. He was still waiting for his panicked phone call the moment his mother saw the news.

"Oh yeah, by the way, um, what the hell?" Ellie exploded, "We were gone three days! _Three days_. Does Dakota really depend on us that much? Do they sit around at town hall and say, 'Oh geez, I haven't seen Static or Velocity, I think that means we can push the 'Self Destruct' button now.' 'Oh goody! Can I push it?' 'No Ed, you pushed it last time. It's Kendall's turn.' 'No way! Kendall always pushes it, like that time we were at the circus!' 'That wasn't his fault Ed, you said you were all finished with-"

"Yes Ellie, that's exactly what happens." Richie interrupted and spared himself from having to listen to the fate of imaginary people.

"Ah right then. Listen V, if you're not up to helping clean this up, that is completely fine I can get this on my own." Ellie offered. Virgil gave a weak smile and shook his head, in all honesty he wanted to be out there saving people.

"No, I want to help. I'm just going to have to wait until later tonight, because I doubt my pops is gonna let me out of his sight as long as the city is like this." Virgil said.

"Don't worry about your dad, I can get him handled." Ellie said. Virgil and Richie looked up in disbelief as the atmosphere changed and they felt like they were talking to the head of the mob.

"What do you mean 'handled'?" Virgil asked.

"Not like that silly! I was just going to tell him that my dad offered to take the three of us to my Uncle Sebastian's chinchilla ranch until everything is settled here. In the meantime, we can crash at my place." Ellie explained. Virgil and Richie nodded, that made much more sense to them.

"Yeah that sounds like a plan." Virgil nodded.

"Okey dokey, let me just change and I'll go get the brochures out of my dad's car." Ellie said.

* * *

"Hey V." Static called as he used his electromagnetic powers to trap a few gang members inside a dumpster. He had to admit he did not like using his nickname to address Velocity. But her name was like four syllables and there was no way to abbreviate it.

"Yes, love?" Velocity responded before turning into a whirlwind of yellow. Only a millisecond later she screeched to a stop and had a gaggle of thugs tied together by rope, hanging upside down like one of those old cartoons. She stopped for a moment to admire her work.

"You don't really have an Uncle Sebastian who owns a chinchilla ranch, do you?" he asked.

"Of course. He's actually a surgeon, the ranch is more of a hobby." Velocity said.

"Huh…" Static paused a moment, "You know, nothing you say really surprises me anymore." A huge thug tried to hit him over the head with an aluminum baseball bat but an electric purple ray wrapped around it and it flew right out of his hands.

"Aw, I like being a lady of mystery." Velocity flipped her hair dramatically, "Oh hey, my dad texted me." She grabbed a thug and held him in a headlock as she used her free hand to pull out her cellphone, "Dinner's in ten. Which is good, cause I'm starving for food and my man meat."

"Oh god, do you think you could sensor yourself once in a while? You're talking about Richie, we used to share lunchables." Static shook his head, "And what's for dinner?"

"Hold up, let me check." Velocity flipped the thug over on to his stomach and she stepped on his back with her left foot to keep him pinned. Her hands expertly glided over her blackberry and then she put it back in her utility belt. She then picked up the degenerate she had been tormenting and carelessly tossed him into an open dumpster. "I hope it's dino chicken nuggets. My dad's not much good for anything else culinary wise."

"Alright, is this alley pretty much clear?" Static looked around. The common criminals that were hiding or still conscious made like a bat outta hell, they left Static and Velocity standing alone in a deserted alley. "Not bad." Static said and cracked his knuckles satisfactorily.

"I'm kinda glad we stopped the competition to see how could knock out more baddies. It's kind of difficult to count and fight at the same time." Velocity nodded.

"Agreed, but imagine if we had continued it? I must be up to 60 right now." Static said.

"Most definitely. Why don't you get a head start home? I'll catch up in a few minutes." Velocity suggested.

"Alright, see you there." Static gripped his disc but was interrupted by a loud female voice.

"Static, Velocity, wait!" a police officer was in the process of trotting over to them. Static winced when he realized it was Trina Jessup. The young officer was currently in a relationship with his father. He liked her and all, but sometimes he had the creepiest feeling she could see through his mask.

"Yes officer?" Velocity said all too politely. Static was slightly worried, he knew Ellie had a distaste for cops.

"I just got a call that some local bang babies are trashing Alva Industries, I think they're going to-" Officer Jessup was cut off by the sound of a duck quacking. Static and Jessup both looked at Velocity who sheepishly pulled out her phone.

"It is dino nuggets." She informed Static and then put the phone back in her belt and cleared her throat, "You were saying?"

"I think they're going to try and get their hands on the bang baby gas and possibly set off another bang." Trina said.

"Oooh rad, dino nuggets can wait, we have an actual fight on our hands." Velocity clicked her tongue and bumped her hip obnoxiously into Static, "Meet ya there Sparky." While ignoring Trina's existence, she took off down the street at hyper speed.

Static groaned, "I hate it when she doesn't give me a head start. I miss all the action." He mumbled to himself, "Thank you for the tip officer." Static said and took off into the sky on his disc.

* * *

It was getting late. Static was flying as low as he could so he could see properly. He wanted to avoid flying too low, it was still dangerous out. Most of the pathetic punks had evacuated the streets once they heard Static and Velocity were home, but some of the older, tougher guys were still prowling. He entered the perimeter of Alva Industries and anticipated a brutal scene of protestors and bang babies, but it was as silent as a graveyard. There was trash all around from before, but not a soul was in sight. The front lawn and the parking lot were empty. Had Velocity settled down the riot all by herself? No, Velocity was good, but she wasn't that good. Something wasn't right and Static kept his guard up. He flew around the right side of the area until he found a large gaping hole that was still warm from where Hotstreak had melted it. That was certainly conspicuous.

He lowered his disc closer only to have a blur of yellow crash into him and nearly knock him off his disc. Luckily Velocity didn't weigh much and he was able to keep them both balanced on the disc.

"I have three older brothers that beat me up worse than that Hot Head." Velocity called out furiously, she then turned her attention to Static, "Merci darling." With that she hopped off the disc and ran full speed at Hotstreak. Static flew into the lab to see it was pretty much dismantled. Wires and balance beams stuck out awkwardly at every angle. Static stopped for a moment as Velocity kicked Hotstreak in the back of his knee and disappeared before he could hit back. Watching Velocity and Hotstreak fight was like watching a mouse take down a bear. A big fiery bear. Hotstreak probably outweighed her by like 60 pounds, but Velocity's tiny frame made it easier for her to move around quickly and avoid being caught.

Velocity grabbed a metal pipe and used all of her strength to swing it at Hotstreak's chest. But his pale hand caught it before it hit him and he used the pipe against Velocity and pushed her back against a wall. She grunted in effort to keep him from using the pipe to crush her.

"Static! He's the guard dog, the parties through that door. Quick, go!" Velocity struggled to call out.

"I'm not gonna leave you here." Static argued.

"Go _now_! I'll hold him off as long as I can." Velocity yelled. Hotstreak shifted and she took the opportunity to get off the wall. Hotstreak swung the pipe but Velocity ducked out of the way.

Static sighed and looked away from the two and darted passed another doorway into an immaculate hallway. Fluorescent lights illuminated every particle floating through the air, there were several observation rooms that looked like medical laboratories. He noted the elevator at the end of the hallway and entered it as quickly as possible.

Now, if you were a secret lab with experimental gas inside it, what floor would you be located on? Looking at the numbers he noticed there were 6 floors. 4 upper floors, the ground floor, and then a negative 1 on the keypad. He pressed the negative 1 while wondering what kind of degree you had to have to work here.

The elevator ride was cozy and warm and some light Billy Joel was playing. Static was pretty content his foot even tapped with the beat a little. The doors made a ding and slid opened to reveal another creepily immaculate hallway. Static cautiously walked up it and he could hear the distinct sound of meta humans arguing.

"I don't like this Ebon."

"Shut up!"

"We're not even sure if this is the right container or not."

"God Shiv, stop your bitching and go watch the door like you're supposed to."

"Yes, goodness knows you wouldn't want any uninvited guests." Static nodded as he entered the lab. It was high tech-y looking and big. Quite a BIG room. Two large metal containers occupied most of it, followed by complex looking formulas written on large white boards and tables with various beakers and vials scattered about them.

The dark shadow known as Ebon growled at the sight of him, "Back from vacation hero?"

"Yeah, you enjoy your vacation from prison? Because I'd say it's about time to head back." Static asked.

"Thanks Sparky, but we don't have any intention of going back to prison." said Ebon, "Talon, Shiv; take care of him." The feathered girl and the purple haired meta got into a defensive position and Static prepared himself for a fight when a large crash made everyone turn their heads to the door where Static had just entered from. More loud crashes and Static ducked as a fireball whizzed past his ear.

"Come on Hot Lips, my grandmother could have made that shot and she's got dirt in her eyes!" a loud feminine voice called out. Another fireball soared into the room. "Jeez, do I have to hold still for you?" Velocity raced into the room and took the spot next to Static. She was shortly followed by an infuriated Hotstreak.

"Why do you have to name call? You just make him more mad, you know?" Static asked.

"Dude, I could paint my toenails blue and it would make him mad." Velocity said.

Static blinked, "…wha- what does that even have to do with-? Gah never mind. Take a break, and go after Shiv and Talon. I'll handle Ebon and Hotstreak."

"Yeah, yeah, whatev's." Velocity said, she appeared a bit tired and unable to argue with his orders like she usually did.

Ebon, Shiv, Talon and Hotstreak all clenched their fists preparing to fight the two heroes. Static moved his hands into an offensive position and Velocity's legs locked as she was ready to run. But they all froze and all the attention was bought to Talon. Feathers had begun to molt off her and fall to the ground.

"Talon… what the-?" Ebon started before noticing that he could see the skin of his arm. The shadow that was consuming him was slowly wasting away.

"Ebon!" Talon gasped.

"What's going on?" Static mumbled to Velocity.

"I don't know, but let's cease the opportunity to strike." Velocity ran forward. She started off fast but then the wind around her died down and she took a few normal steps. She looked down at her feet in absolute shock, "I'm… slow."

Static lifted his hands to try and fire off some electricity but his fingers crackled purple and he realized that his powers had disappeared as well. A giant screen lowered itself from the ceiling.

"What now?" Static wondered out loud.

The television screen clicked on and a large looking muscular man was wearing what appeared to be grey stone armor and a matching stone mask. Dark eyes blinked in absolute delight to see the six meta-humans. "Good evening all of you. Allow me to introduce myself. I call myself Iron Fist. I am no different than you, I too have breathed in the "Bang Baby Gas" and have found myself with certain abilities. When I awoke after breathing it, I found my physical strength has been altered to near inhuman levels and my skin had become impenetrable. I then began to study the different strands of the gas."

"Now. I trust you are all very curious to your present condition. Well let me start by assuring you all that you are perfectly healthy. You will realize however that the "Bang Baby" gene has been removed from your system. There is an antigen in the air, you've been breathing it since you entered. It is a new strand of the gas that I borrowed from Alva Industries, it works against the "Bang Baby" gene and you will find yourself without power."

"This guy sounds like the killer from Saw." Velocity mumbled to Static.

"Wait a second, you set us up." Static said, "There is no Bang Baby gas here, you just knew we'd all end up here so you could remove our powers."

"Yes and no." Iron Fist waved his hands in an unbalanced manner, "Yes, there's Bang Baby gas in Dakota. No it's not here. Rumors that it was at Alva's spread like wildfire and you certainly took the bait. That just made it easier on me."

"Where is the Bang Baby gas?" Ebon probed.

"All in good time, Ivan. I need all of you out of the way for the time being. I cannot have the four villains in this room creating mayhem and putting the city into a state where I cannot perform my plan. And I also cannot have the two vigilantes interfering with my plans. So I will leave you all powerless… for now. So sorry, I wish I could stay longer but I have no time to spare. But don't vex yourself, I'll be seeing you all soon." The monitor clicked off without any further information.

"You two!" Ebon growled pointing to Velocity and Static, "This is your fault!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey now. The sketchy character on the television screen is _clearly_ to blame here." Velocity said.

"It may be his fault but you two are going to be the ones to pay for it." Ebon snarled.

"I don't know about you guys, but I have definitely been waiting to run into these skinny little geeks without their powers." Hotstreak said cracking his knuckle and flexing his rather huge biceps. Velocity looked down at her significantly smaller biceps and gulped.

"Yeah um… 4 on 2 defiantly doesn't seem as good as it did two minutes ago." Velocity nudged Static nervously.

"I absolutely agree, I think we should run for our lives now." Static replied.

"Spectacular idea, let's go!" Velocity grabbed Static's hand and the two of the sprinted for the exit. The steel door slammed shut right in front of them before they could reach it. They both whipped around to see the four powerless villains approaching them menacingly.

"Not good…" Static gulped, "What do we do now?"

Velocity looked around the lab for anything that might be of use. To the left of them there was a glass case with something that looked like a fire alarm underneath it. "I've got an idea!" she announced. She elbowed the glass case, shattering it instantly, and then she pulled the alarm. A siren went off and started blinking illuminating the entire lab with a fluorescent red light.

"Detox activated." An automated voice sounded over the intercom.

"Detox? What does that mean? We're in a lab, how are they gonna detox-" Static was cut off by a loud clinking sound that sounded like it was right above them. Every person in the lab was deathly silent and they looked up at the ceiling. There was the sound of whirring and then a large panel opened and gallons of water came rushing out.

"WHOA!" both Static and Velocity exclaimed before the water swept them right off their feet. A trap door was opened and the water forced them out of it. They then experienced what was essentially a slip and slide. The water forced them down a long tunnel until they both went jetting out of Alva Industries and into a lake located right next to it. Velocity hit the water backwards and sunk at least 10 feet before swimming back up to the top. She spit out a mouthful of lake water and went into a fit of coughing. Static came up gasping a few seconds later.

"Of all the buttons in the lab you could have pressed, you just HAD to press the detox button!" Static choked out.

"I thought it was the fire alarm!" Velocity said defensively.

"On what planet would the fire alarm have been of any use anyway?"

"It could have gotten us back up. Big red trucks that go 'Wee-Woo'." Velocity replied.

"Alright but you didn't press the fire alarm! You pressed the DETOX button!" Static yelled.

"How the hell was I supposed to know? Oh and on that note, it's nice to know the detoox button consists of dumpin toxic chemicals into a _freaking_ lake! How legal does that sound?" Velocity shouted while treading the ice cold lake water. It was so frigid it felt more like December than June. There was a loud splash as Hotstreak fell face first into the lake.

"We'll worry about that later, we have to swim to shore and get out of here before they all get together again." Static said. Velocity nodded in agreement and they swam to shore as fast as they could.

* * *

**Well I had wanted to take things slower, but I ended up going through a LOT in this chapter. Important plot points and what not. I hope I'm not rushing this story too much :\**

**Anyway, I'm sick of staring at this chapter, so there it is. **

**And I pinky promise to be better about updates. **


	3. Everything Is Alright

**So it wasn't as quick as I had wanted to be, but it was still a much quicker update than the last time. :)**

**"****Cause I hate the ocean, theme parks and airplanes, ****talking with strangers, waiting in line. I'm through with these pills that make me sit still. "Are you feeling fine?" Yes, I feel just fine." - Everything Is Alright by Motion City Soundtrack**

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The world is full of awkward looking things. Scalene triangles, cotton candy ice cream, tube socks, Ben Stiller... but nothing looks as awkward as two drenched superheroes taking the bus all the way across the city at 2 in the morning. The old woman and a greasy, middle aged man that were also on the bus were staring intently. Even the driver was taking breaks to look over at them in his mirror. Static sat in the seat with his arms folded in an irritated manner and his clothes were extra heavy from soaking up all the water. Velocity was next to him, her spandex was more dry than Static's outfit and her long wet hair dangled freely. The two powerless heroes exited the bus as quickly as possible once they reached their stop. They only had to walk a block before reaching Ellie's house and thankfully the streets were so empty they didn't have to worry about anyone seeing them go into the house with their costumes on.

Ellie let out a loud breath of relief as she tossed her mask to the floor and kicked off her shoes. Virgil shed his mask and coat and neatly hung them up.

"First priority: I need food in my belly." Ellie announced as she dragged her feet into the kitchen. Virgil's stomach growled as well and he remembered that he hadn't eaten since the morning. The moment Ellie and Virgil walked into the kitchen Richie sprang to his feet.

"Thank God you guys are home! We were beginning to... why are you guys wet?" Richie questioned.

"It's been a long night sweet face." Ellie said as she pecked him on the cheek and approached her cabinet and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Lucky Charms.

"Well, what happened?" Richie asked.

"Well... we went to Alva's, lost our powers, got tossed into a lake and then we had to take the bus home." Ellie sighed she crossed her arms with a pout, "People stared."

"You- went to- you lost your- what?" Richie gaped. He looked to Virgil who nodded in confirmation. "Well snap... what's the next move?" asked the blond boy.

"We go to the Cave of Wonders, get a genie lamp, wish for all the mean people in the world to turn into marshmallow, world peace and permanent sunshine." Ellie suggested.

"OR we go and infiltrate Alva's again and investigate Iron Fist. He said he stole the gas from Alva's so he must have some type of access to them in order to know that..." Virgil said as he started peeling a banana.

"Who's Iron Fist?" asked Richie.

"Some crazed up dude in a costume made of iron." Ellie shrugged.

"How will we get in without your powers?" Richie questioned.

"My dad works there remember?" Ellie said as she began rustling through her cabinets again. "All we need to do is make up a couple of fake ID's and that's easy as heck for me since I sell them to middle schoolers for 20 bucks. Ooooh we have animal crackers!" Ellie shouted with delight as she took out a plastic bag and began munching on her new snack.

"I swear Ellie, somebody could sell you ground up chicken livers and as long as it was in the shape of a flower you'd find it appealing." Virgil shook his head.

"Hey I can't help the fact I fall under the spell of consumerism." Ellie said, "I mean which sounds better to you; a box of popcorn or a box of popcorn with Batman's face on it?"

"They're the same thing." Virgil said in a monotone.

"Nuh uh. One has Batman on it." Ellie rolled her eyes at Virgil's stupidity and mumbled, "Idiot."

"Hey guys, can we stick to discussing the plan?" asked Richie.

"Oh right." Ellie said, "Well I'll just go grab my dad's work photo ID badge thing and make three copies with different names, I have a laminating machine downstairs in Candyland. Once those are all faked up all we have to do is go invade Alva's and cause some chaos." she explained.

Virgil gave her a suspicious look, "Do you really sell fake ID's to middle schoolers?"

"I don't really think that's the point right now." Ellie said, "The point is, I can get us inside."

"And then we'll find out who Iron Fist is, find out where the real Bang Baby Gas is and get our powers back." Virgil confidently finished. Richie nodded and looked over to Ellie who had gone a bit quiet. There seemed to be a question on her mind but her blue eyes showed hesitation. She just bit her lip and nodded. Before Richie could ask her about her unusual behavior; Ellie's father, Malcolm, walked into the kitchen.

"El, it's been almost 4 hours since I texted you for dinner, where were you?" he asked.

"I was in a lake." Ellie said.

"And why didn't you call?"

"Again, I was in a lake." she pulled out her water soaked cellphone and put it on the table. Malcolm sighed as he looked at the pitiful thing.

"That's the third one this month..." he reminded her.

"And this why I asked you to spring for the water proof utility belt but does anybody listen to me? Nooooooo, 'Just get the black one it's only 45.95'." Ellie mocked.

"Yes and I believe your retort to that was 'No daddy, this one's yellow and it matches my outfit!'." Malcolm mocked back.

"Well, it was _also_ waterproof." Ellie said with her arms crossed.

"Yeah and an extra 20 bucks." Malcolm said.

"How much money do you spend in phones for me again?"

"I don't know how I raised you to be such a little wise ass." Malcolm shook his head, he looked over and noticed Virgil and Richie's presence.

"How long have these two been here?" he asked.

Richie looked aghast, "I've been here for like six hours, two of which I spent talking to you!"

"Oh right... you talked about your feelings for a bit and then I just kind of tuned you out." Malcolm recalled, "Are they staying much longer?"

"They're spending about a week or so here." Ellie said.

"I see."

"Yeah, don't answer the phone if their parents call, we're supposed to be in Montana at Uncle Sebastian's chinchilla ranch." Ellie said. Malcolm let out a long sigh.

"And _why_ exactly am I covering for them to stay here?" Malcolm asked skeptically.

"Because, there's no way Virgil's dad is gonna let him go outside while all these riots are breaking out and I need Static's help on this one." Ellie requested. Malcolm looked at Virgil and felt his morals being conflicted. He would be allowing the mocha skinned teen put himself in danger just to keep his daughter out of too much danger. He didn't want to do it, but if Ellie was admitting that she needed help, there must be a whole bunch of trouble brewing. He nodded.

"And why am I covering for your boyfriend to stay here?" he asked.

"Because his parents are out of town. And it's too scary outside to let him stay by himself."

Malcolm groaned very loudly and covered his face with his hands. "I hate lying to fellow parents about their children's whereabouts."

"But you'll do it, right?" Ellie batted her eyelashes and kissed her father's cheek.

"Please don't ever use my parenting skills on your own kids, El." Malcolm said.

"But you're the best daddy in the entire universe. You have a mug that says so. I bought it for you remember?" Ellie said.

"Go to bed." Malcolm said and dragged his feet out of the kitchen.

"Aren't you gonna tell me to brush my teeth first?" Ellie called after him.

"Brush your teeth and floss!" Malcolm's voice called back.

Ellie groaned, "Ugh, I don't _wanna_ floss."

"Too bad!"

"Fine..." Ellie grumbled and stomped to the bathroom.

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It didn't take Richie very long to fall asleep. Once they had finished coming up with fake names for the ID cards and went through the process of laminating them, Ellie set up the futon and air mattress with blankets in Candyland for Virgil and Richie before retiring to her own room. So Richie was only a few moments away from REM sleep when he felt something nuzzle itself against his chest. And he knew this "something" was most likely Ellie because she had a pretty distinct way of possessively wrapping her arms around his hips to keep him close. At least he hoped the "something" was Ellie and not Virgil or the other potential male candidates upstairs.

"You smell like grilled cheese." the "something" informed him, "It's very flattering." Yup, definitely Ellie.

"Well, no offense to your dad's cooking but I had to eat something." Richie said, "And speaking of him, I don't think he'd be very thrilled if he knew you were sneaking out of your room to stay down here..."

"Eh, my daddy's a permissive parent."

"Hadn't noticed."

"So, he'll get over it."

"Whatever floats your boat." Richie said. Ellie let out a small quiet laugh and cuddled him closer. She then grew quiet for a good couple of minutes. This was a very un-Ellie like thing to do. Richie had stayed in a bed with Ellie many times (more times then he'd care to admit in front of his parents. The speedster had a habit of crawling through his window after a night of patrolling) and she almost always kept him chatting until he fell asleep on her.

"Are you okay?" Richie asked. He felt the her body heave a sigh.

"Everything is alright..." she responded in an unenthusiastic tone.

"Now that didn't sound too convincing." Richie noted, "What's wrong?"

Ellie shifted for a bit and hesitantly looked up to lock eyes with Richie. The moon light from the small corner basement window illuminated his face and highlighted the blue in his eyes, making it physically impossible for Ellie to lie to him.

"I'm scared." she whispered.

"Well, of course you're scared... you just had your life threatened." Richie reminded her and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"No, not of that... well kinda that... but it's just... I feel so..." Ellie broke off, her words jumbling themselves. She sighed and Richie patiently waited for her to regain control of her speech. She took a deep breath and continued, "I'm not like Virgil, or you, for that matter. I was always different, being fast is all I've ever known. And now I don't know what to do or how to be. It's like someone took one of my eyes, I can still function, it's just different, I feel like someone took my edge." Ellie said miserably. "On top of that, I have to lie to my dad. Because if he knows I lost my powers there's no way in HELL he'd let me go out risking my neck anymore. I hate lying to him. He's like one of my best friends..." she said.

"Ellie, it's gonna be okay. We're going to infiltrate Alva's tomorrow and we'll get your powers back." Richie comforted.

"But what if..." Ellie looked very hesitant and she sighed, "...never mind."

"Wait, what is it?" Richie pressed.

"It's late... let's just talk in the morning." Ellie rolled on her side.

"But El-"

"Sweet dreams sugar plum." Ellie silenced him. Richie let out his own sigh and turned over so he was on his back. He could tell she was still troubled, but he didn't want to her push her too hard. He tried to relax as best until he fell into another sleep.


End file.
